2017•10•20     Tokyo

The latest UNU-IAS policy brief outlines recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders seeking to advance the sustainable use of ecosystem services in production landscapes. Local Governance of Production Landscapes: Learning from Japan’s Noto Peninsula is written by UNU-IAS Research Associate Chiho Kamiyama. It makes use of research conducted in northern Ishikawa Prefecture to demonstrate the value to be gained from approaches that incorporate an understanding of the coexistence between people and nature.

Highlights

Forms of coexistence between nature and people have been receiving increased global attention. The sustainable use of ecosystem services in production landscapes — characterized by ecosystems that maintain biodiversity and produce bundles of ecosystem services — is threatened, however, by abandonment of farmland due to population ageing and decline in many countries. Building futures for these societies requires improving local governance to link multiple stakeholders and knowledge systems.
This policy brief recommends:

• mapping ecosystem services to enable stakeholders to better understand the spatial distribution of these services and improve analysis of current situations
• exploring ecosystem services that have largely been unquantified, to generate new value and enhance community resilience and quality of life
• developing incentives for engaging in nature, to ensure a harmonic relationship between people and nature in production landscapes